The Friday Thing #742

What a week….on so many levels.

The Friday Thing #742 has changed topic at least 4 times today. I went to bed last night convinced I was going to write about an analogy between my history with COBOL programming and the editing of blog posts. It was going to be great….but I’ll save that one for another day.

As much as I try to make The Friday Thing about a single topic these days, that is impossible this week. Firstly, it’s impossible to not acknowledge the war in Ukraine. It has consumed a lot of my week, personally and professionally, and I have learned a lot along the way. I learned about the details of sanctions (and wish a few others had read them). I learned about maps and how they can give a very distorted view of the status of military operations. I watched the bravery of Lynsey Addario, a photojournalist friend who is documenting the war from within Ukraine. I read an account written by a resident of Kyiv right before the war began – and wished it was in front of the Monocle paywall. And I read Julia Ioffe’s remarkable piece from Puck. In fact, I read this piece three times this week because I was so struck by the writing. It’s astonishingly good, with turns of phrase I could only dream of and searing, brutal honesty. It’s journalism at its finest and thankfully, Puck allow me to share it with you. Europe’s 9/11 is worth your time this weekend.?

?It feels ridiculous to go from that to the passing of an Australian cricket player today. But Shane Warne is no ordinary cricket player. Legend and genius are overused terms these days and though Warne was no angel, he is a cricket legend and was a genius with a cricket ball – especially in the art form known as leg spin. At this point, many of my US colleagues (in fact many of my you, period) will be switching off – but spare me a moment and watch this clip. You will see a cricket ball do things that defy logic.

This was the first ball of Warne’s career in what is essentially the biggest game in world cricket. There is a reason it is known in the game as “the ball of the century”. It was the entrée to a career that illuminated the game. The introduction to the Michael Jordan of cricket. He could do things that were beyond belief….usually on the cricket pitch, but sometimes off it too. It’s that mix that leaves the cricket world at a loss today. Despite his flaws, Warne was admired because he was always Shane. A character who was not acting as anyone else but himself. RIP, King.?

I was just about to write the next part of the Friday Thing which is a bonkers new idea I have for every company on the planet to get some free inspiration. But it can wait.

?Happy Friday. See you next week.

?-Steve